Contents

August 2012

31 August 2012

Since mid-July, fighting in and around Damascus has been escalating almost without interruption. The situation in many parts of Syria is currently edging towards irreversible deterioration. Assisting the fast-growing number of needy people is a top priority.

17 August 2012

The situation in Aleppo and the surrounding rural areas is extremely tense as fighting continues in several districts. The number of killed and wounded rises daily and thousands more have been displaced. Despite the difficulties, volunteers from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) continue to help those in need.

Thousands of civilians, especially in the governorates of Damascus and Aleppo, are struggling to stay safe. Despite facing increasing challenges over the past three weeks, the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent assisted over 125,000 people affected by violence in several parts of Syria.

7 August 2012

Thousands of displaced people have no option but to stay put until they feel safe to return to their homes. Like many others affected by the fighting, they continue to depend on humanitarian assistance.

Over the past four days:

In Aleppo, thousands of people have found safety and shelter in 80 schoolhouses. With much difficulty, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent is still providing them with food and other necessities.

In Damascus, the ICRC has supplied the Syrian Arab Red Crescent with enough medical items to treat some 500 injured people.

The ICRC has delivered a one-month supply of food for some 13,500 displaced people to Adra al-Ommaliyeh, Douma, Jaramana and Yabroud in Rural Damascus. It has also provided Syrian Arab Red Crescent branches in the governorates of Hama, Idlib and Lattakia with enough food to cover the needs of over 23,000 people.

In cooperation with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the ICRC has arranged for water and sanitation technicians to install water-storage tanks and the necessary accessories to ensure that hundreds of displaced people accommodated in schoolhouses – in Masaken Barzeh and Mezzeh in Damascus, and in Khan al-Sheeh, Tal Kurdi and al-Nabak in Rural Damascus – have ample clean water.

4 August 2012

The ICRC is appealing to all parties to the conflict to fully respect the rules and principles of international humanitarian law.

3 August 2012

Ordinary Syrians, including many who are sheltering in schools and other public facilities, still struggle just to make it through the day. Since mid-2011, the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent have brought aid to some 750,000 people in violence-stricken areas across the country.

Several schools in Aleppo have been opened as shelters. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent has provided them with food, mattresses, hygiene products and other basic items. With ICRC support, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent arranged for water and sanitation technicians to install water tanks, pipes and showers and to carry out repair work in 10 schools accommodating some 2,000 displaced people.

The ICRC arranged for the delivery, through the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, of food aid for 52,000 people: 25,000 in Damascus, 10,000 in Homs, 9,000 in Hama and 8,000 in Rural Damascus. A kilo of dates and dried apricots has been included in each food parcel to mark the holy month of Ramadan.

The ICRC has also sent water and sanitation technicians to 12 schools in Damascus and Rural Damascus, which together are accommodating more than 5,000 people, to make sure the facilities can supply enough clean drinking water and maintain acceptable levels of hygiene and sanitation for everyone taking shelter in them. In two places in Rural Damascus, new water tanks have been installed so that 10,000 displaced people and the communities hosting them will have an adequate supply of clean water.

July 2012

30 July 2012

The situation remains fraught with danger and uncertainty in several parts of Syria as armed confrontations continue in Aleppo, parts of Damascus and Homs. Over recent days, the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent have continued to assist displaced people and others affected by the fighting in Damascus and elsewhere.

In Aleppo, in cooperation with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the ICRC arranged for water and sanitation technicians to install water tanks, pipes and showers and to carry out repair work in 10 schools hosting some 2,000 displaced people. In Rural Damascus, technicians continue to work in Adra Al-Omaliyah, Sahnaya and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to improve access to safe drinking water in schools hosting hundreds of displaced people.

In Homs, over 2,300 food parcels – enough to meet the needs of more than 11,500 people for a month – were delivered to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent branch for distribution to the displaced.

In Damascus, the ICRC transferred to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent 5,000 food parcels – enough for 25,000 people for one month – which will be distributed primarily to displaced people taking shelter in schools and other public buildings.

27 July 2012

The situation in Aleppo is extremely volatile and in Damascus, too, thousands of people have fled their homes in search of safety. Several schools in Aleppo have been opened as shelters and the SARC has provided basic items, including mattresses, hygiene products and food. The displaced people’s needs, however, are still acute.

Over the last two days, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) have continued to help people affected by the fighting in Damascus:

The ICRC is monitoring the situation in two schools in the Al-Zahera neighbourhood which are sheltering over 500 displaced people, who are receiving food and hygiene items from the SARC and the local community.

The ICRC has supplied the SARC with 2,300 food parcels – enough to feed more than 11,000 people for a month. Each ICRC food parcel is supplemented by one kilogramme of dates and dried apricots to mark the holy month of Ramadan.

As part of its efforts to improve access to clean water, the ICRC has sent water and sanitation technicians to install water storage tanks in the Adra al-Ommaliyeh area and in three schools in Sahnaya, Rural Damascus where the displaced have taken refuge.